USES OF WEEDS 3 



decaying, increase the amount of humus in the soil. 

 The addition of humus to the soil benefits both heavy 

 soils and those of a light or sandy character, rendering 

 the former more open and porous, and the latter more 

 compact and retentive of moisture. 



(c) Perhaps the most useful part played by weeds, 

 however, lies in the fact that by their mere presence 

 they indirectly promote good tillage, without which 

 first-class agricultural crops cannot be raised. No 

 sooner are the root and many other crops through the 

 surface than the hoe of a good farmer or gardener is 

 put to work to keep down the weeds, and this act of 

 tillage, quite apart from the destruction of weeds, is 

 one of the chief means which conduce to good crops, 

 since it leads to the production of a fine tilth and mini- 

 mises the evaporation of moisture by capillary action. 

 In field cultivation hand hoeing is very materially 

 assisted by the horse hoe ; in ordinary gardening the 

 hand hoe alone must be kept hard at it early and late. 

 It has been well said by a recent writer that " many a 

 casual gardener owes what success he has largely to 

 the accidents of weeds. They demand the use of the 

 hoe ; and the more soils and plants are studied, the 

 more manifest does it become that a friable, carious, 

 well-worked surface is the prime secret of cultivation, 

 even in the case of many things that grow deep." 1 



(d) In connection with the uses of weeds, their 

 manurial value should not be lost sight of in another 

 direction. If gathered into heaps and mixed with 

 soil and a little lime they make a valuable com- 

 post. Placed at the bottom of a good-sized trench, 

 with garden refuse, such as cabbage leaves and pea 

 haulm, and then covered in, weeds help to form a first- 

 rate bed on which marrows and other crops may be 



1 The Times, May 25, 1907. 



